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Teresa SonesBLESS THIS FOOD CATERING92 • SEPTEMBER 2021
– W O M E N I N B U S I N E S S –A D V E R T O R I A LSo, whether you eat or drink or whateveryou do, do it all for the glory of God.–1 Corinthians, 10:31Teresa Sones didn’t set out to be a caterer.She didn’t dream of having a store that sellsbaked goods and casseroles. Teresa went tocollege to become a nurse. And she was anurse, for ten years. But after having fourchildren, it was not cost-effective for her towork anymore. Her husband, Jeff, wasworking fulltime in the National Guard, soTeresa went home and began homeschoolingher children.Born in Louisiana, Teresa’s family moved toJackson when she was young, and she grew upin the Belhaven area of Jackson. Aftergraduating from nursing school at HindsCommunity College, she went to work in herchosen profession.She and Jeff lived in Tupelo for eight years,and while she was there, their pastor, TimFortner, shared his recipe for sourdough breadwith Teresa. “He taught me how to make itand I began giving it as gifts.” People asked ifthey could buy her bread. The couple movedto Flora in 2008, and many of Teresa’sworking mom friends took notice of thedelicious meals she was preparing for herfamily. Her friends said they wished she couldcook for them. That gave Teresa an idea.There was a small building behind herhouse, and Teresa called the health department,and they came out and told her whatkind of equipment she would need to have acommercial kitchen. Soon she was takingorders for meals and bread and delivering tobusy moms-on-the-go. Teresa was still on thefence about having a business, but she knewshe wanted to do something to contribute totheir household income. “Our paster, HunterBrewer, told me that I needed to do somethingso big that if God’s not in it, it won’twork; and if He is in it, you can’t stop it. Thatstuck with me, and I moved forward. I wasinspired by the Bible verse from first Corinthiansthat says, ‘So, whether you eat or drinkor whatever you do, do it all for the glory ofGod.’ It’s one of the verses we studied a lot atthe church we went to in Tupelo. I decided toname my business Bless This Food Catering.”The more she got into the business, themore she realized that feeding people is whatdrives her. “I like to bless people with food!”Because she had struggled with her weight forso long, she began to think about her ownrelationship with food differently. “I feed mybody for the glory of God. I like to think I’mfeeding others for the same reason.”The business began to grow organically. “Isure didn’t have a business plan,” laughsTeresa. People found out about her businessvia word of mouth, and soon she was gettingorders for corporate lunches and evenweddings. They began to do more made-toorderitems, in addition to the baked goodsthat Teresa makes each day. Two years ago,Teresa signed a lease on a building and movedher operation to Flora. Daughter Sarahstepped in and built a website as well as thenew store. “She handled all the constructiondetails,” says Teresa. “Sarah has big ideas, andshe is so creative.” Daughter Rebekah nowtakes care of the business end, keeping thebooks, taking orders and planning weddingreception catering. The business continues togrow, with a new lease recently signed for asecond storefront in Pearl.At the Flora location, meals for cateringlunches are prepared and bread is baked daily.“My day starts at 4am, when I start makingthe bread,” Teresa says. “I go to the gym at 5,which is what keeps me moving, then back tothe store at 6 to finish the bread and makecinnamon rolls, regular rolls and cakes. Somedays I’m done by midday, other days it may belater.” Teresa says that ninety percent of theircatering business is for pharmaceuticallunches. “I know all the doctors in town andtheir food preferences,” laughs Teresa. “I knowwhat they like and don’t like, and we make thelunches accordingly. We also do a lot ofWednesday night suppers for churches.” Thebusiness does a couple of weddings eachmonth. “We do smaller weddings, with 100people or less, but that is picking up.” Whilethey don’t make wedding cakes, Teresa saysthey do set things up, serve, and break it downafterwards.The Flora location also offers ready-mademeals, both frozen and refrigerated, as well asbaked goods. “Our most popular dishes arethe poppy seed chicken and chicken spaghetti,”says Teresa. “We separate them by size,from small (feeds two to three), to medium(feeds four to six) to large (feeds ten).” Therefrigerator is filled with chicken salad andhomemade pimiento cheese, along withindividual healthy meals. “We have severalfamilies that order weekly. During Covid,business went crazy. We did a lot of curbsidepickup and home deliveries.”When she’s not working, Teresa says sheenjoys traveling. “We try to go to a majorleague baseball game every year. This past Julywe flew to Denver to attend the All-Stargame.” The boys now play football atTri-County Academy, so the Sones are in thestands for the Friday night lights. They arealso members of Madison Heights Church.Bless This Food is located at 740 Highway 49, Suite I, in Flora,in the Cotton Exchange Plaza. More information can be atwww.blessthisfoodcatering.com.Hometown MADISON • 93
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